[TWO4BRIDGE]

1S - ( p ) - 1NTF - ( 2H )
3C - ( p ) - ??

Q x
A x x x x
x
J 9 x x x

[Fluffy]

3♥ can´t give up on slam when the hand seems to fit so extremelly well. 4♦ doesn´t sound like splinter.

4♥ bluhmer could be another option but requires ome imagination across.

[mikeh]

It would be nice to know if partner is just competing with his non-horrible 5-5 or has the nuts. We'd know that if we were playing good/bad or bad/good 2N, but there's no sense complaining that we don't. We definitely have slam possibilities even opposite a minimum. AKxxx x xx AKxxx gives us adequate play, so we can't give up. No club raise does our hand justice, so I agree with Gonzalo...I'd expect a near-unanimous vote for 3♥, followed by clubs. Opener will know if he has a good hand.

My recollection of a Bluhmer was that it showed nothing in the suit....it announced top of the range overall strength and thus announced that all of the strength was in the other suits, where it was, hopefully, pulling full weight....so Qx xxxx Ax Jxxxx might be a bluhmer.

[MrAce]

3♥ for me as well

[gszes]

this hand is wayyyy too weak to consider the 3h
followed by club route. p hand range might
be KJTxx void Ax Axxxxx (maybe even weaker)
but not strong enough for them to bid 3h. We
have to take into consideration p has lost
the ability to bid 2c and thus our bidding needs
to take that into consideration. If p is near
minimum we are probably best served by preeemting
(opps probably have a huge dia fit and may
be stronger making a splinter bid ill advised).
IMO we should probably make a

4H

bid not because of some odd convention but because
p will realize it is a preemtive slam try. If p wishes
take over they can 4n or cue bid if they have doubt.
The 4h bid will let p know we are weak because we gave
no consideration to 3h (to look for 3n or make a delayed
club raise to show slam interest and power) and that we
have a massive club fit. The principle of fast arrival
also dictates avoiding a 3h bid because we need that
bid to show strong hands.

opposite many minimums 5c will not succeed but on a
fair number of those the opps can make 5d so taking
the preemptive route might be considered a form of
insurance when we are not sure which side can make what.

[HighLow21]

I agree with 3♥ which can only show a decent 1NT hand that just became huge on the 3♣ rebid by opener. If you play that a jump to 4♥ shows a control, you might even consider doing that. Even if partner is minimum (to mikeh's point about good/bad and other competitive methods), I'd say game is highly likely and slam should be investigated. (Points, schmoints. Yes you have only 7 points, but what you DO have is absolutely priceless.)

Even a jump to 5♣ probably undervalues the actual holding here. Imagine an only OK-ish fitting minimum like ♠KJxxx ♥Q ♦Kx ♣Axxxx, and game is still odds on even though 5 HCP are wasted. Move the K♦ over to ♣ instead and slam is odds on.

Which begs a question --> does 3♣ in this auction tend to show a 5-card suit? Does it tend to show more than a minimum and if so, how much? Or is partner simply competing with ♥ shortness and a second (maybe 4-card, maybe poorish) suit? I'm interested to hear how people play in this situation.

An aside here is that this is yet another hand that makes me despise 2/1 and 1NTF. If 1NT were "old-school" partner would at least know that we hold at most 2 spades and probably, based on responder's cuebid on the 2nd round, we are stacked in clubs. With 1NTF that precise message is less certain.

[Codo]

With a standard bidder I would try the 3 ♥ 4 ♣ route too. Even if you are not sure whether this is forcing or simply denies a heart control and so the disability to play 3 NT- partner won't pass, he has short hearts.
With my regular partner I am very happy to play good bad 2 NT and that the raise to 4 of a minor in such situations is always forcing.

[TWO4BRIDGE]

mikeh, on 2012-February-02, 16:57, said:

It would be nice to know if partner is just competing with his non-horrible 5-5 or has the nuts.

HighLow21, on 2012-February-02, 18:16, said:

Points, schmoints. Yes you have only 7 points, but what you DO have is absolutely priceless.
Even a jump to 5♣ probably undervalues the actual holding here.

I felt partner had the nuts.... a hand that would have made a SJS w/o interference.

So, right or wrong, I bid...

6♣

Partner's hand:
A K J x x
x
J x x
A K Q x

[MrAce]

TWO4BRIDGE, on 2012-February-03, 12:16, said:

Partner's hand:
A K J x x
x
J x x
A K Q x

Did he run out of DBL cards in the box ? DBl is t/o for me, do you guys play it penalty over 2♥ ?

[TWO4BRIDGE]

MrAce, on 2012-February-03, 13:19, said:

Did he run out of DBL cards in the box ? DBl is t/o for me, do you guys play it penalty over 2♥ ?

T/O ... 1 Opener ( out of 16 ) made the DBL... passed out ... 2♥X making .

Some Responders bid 3♥ or 4♣ over 3♣, but ended up in just 5♣.
No one else was in slam.